Paris 2024 athletics: Men's Olympic marathon preview, full schedule and how to watch live
Nearly two decades since the onset of their track rivalry, Eliud Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele return to the city where it all began for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The 2003 World Championships, hosted in the French capital, was the first time two of the greatest long-distance runners ever met. It was the Kenyan Kipchoge who prevailed over 5000m, the only career track gold medal at a global track event of his career, with Bekele in third.
After missing out on the Olympic Games London 2012, Kipchoge decided to focus on road running, where he’s achieved great success since.
The 37-year-old is chasing more history in Paris in 2024, and wants to become the first athlete to win three back-to-back Olympic marathon titles.
“I trust I will win that gold medal in Paris,” he recently told Olympics.com.
The two haven't raced each other since 2018, when Kipchoge won the third of his fourth London marathon titles.
Bekele, at 42 will be one of the two oldest athletes in the marathon entries alongside another Ethiopian who is now a Swiss naturalised runner in Tadesse Abraham.
He won three Olympic golds over 5000m and 10,000m but has struggled to match that success in the marathon. His last victory was back in 2019 when he nearly lowered Kipchoge’s world record with a 2:01:41 in Berlin, a run that still has him as the third fastest of all-time.
Talking of times, Kipchoge is the fastest man alive in the absence of the world record holder Kelvin Kiptum, a fellow Kenyan who lowered the World Record at the 2023 Chicago Marathon.
Kiptum, who had been preselected to the Paris 2024 marathon team, died in a car crash last February.
Kenya has won three of the last four men’s Olympic marathons and still boasts a formidable team in Benson Kipruto, the winner at the 2024 Tokyo marathon where Kipchoge suffered his fourth marathon loss finishing 10th.
There's also Alexander Munyao, who topped the London marathon in April where Bekele finished second.
The runner-up spot secured the five-time world champion a spot in the Ethiopian Olympics team. His last appearance was at London 2012.
“I've been struggling with injury,” he told Olympics.com.
The injuries have moved from one place of the body to another. It has been a disaster.
“You can struggle with many things. It could be an injury. There are many obstacles, it's not easy. Passing all those obstacles and coming back makes it special.
“[But] my mind tells me that I can still do better in the marathon…I have so many goals. Maybe [Paris] will be my last Olympics," he said.
Bekele is joined by other impressive marathoners in Deresa Geleta, the Seville Marathon winner, and 2022 world champion, Tamirat Tola.
Then there are the Ugandans, who are led by the reigning world gold medallist Victor Kiplangat, it’s also worth keeping an eye on the other Tokyo 2020 podium finishers – silver medallist Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands, and Belgian bronze medallist Bashir Abdi.
The men’s marathon full schedule at Paris 2024 Olympics
The men’s marathon is scheduled for 10 August at 08:00 Paris (GMT/UTC: +02:00) on a unique route paying tribute to the rich history of France and Paris.
How to watch the men’s marathon live at Paris 2024
All of the action from the men's Olympic marathon can be watched via media rights holders (MRHs).
MRHs include Nine in Australia, Globo in Brazil, CBC in Canada, CCTV in People's Republic of China, Fuji TV/NHK/Nippon TV/TBS/TV Asahi/TV Tokyo in Japan, SKY NZ in New Zealand, SuperSport in South Africa, NBC in the United States, and Discovery Eurosport across Europe, alongside France Télévisions in France, ARD/ZDF in Germany, and BBC Sport in the United Kingdom, among others.
Check listings in other regions for your local broadcaster.